


Security Protocols

by bnbc



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Missing Scene, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:08:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28632252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bnbc/pseuds/bnbc
Summary: V forces Takemura to meet her in a motel room (which, of course, has only one bed). Timeline: between the parade and the finale.
Relationships: Goro Takemura & Female V, Goro Takemura & V, Goro Takemura/Female V, Goro Takemura/V
Kudos: 67





	Security Protocols

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Протоколы безопасности](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28436655) by [bnbc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bnbc/pseuds/bnbc). 



> I'm not sure if this is a full-fledged warning, but there is some kind of brain fuck.

“You’d better get out,” Johnny said.

V turned over her shoulder: Johnny was lying on the bed, exactly in the very place where she was about to lie. Well, she had to be content with little: she pulled out a chair, sat astride it, and continued to hypnotize the door.

“Common sense calls V, do you copy? I repeat, common sense on the line. Over!”

“Don't flatter yourself, Johnny. I guess only Garry the Prophet can think you make sense and in his worst days only”.

“Then congratulations, my friend, you are dumber than a homeless madman. Are you going to keep staring at the door?”

“Where else should I look, at your sorrow face?”

“Why damn not? Do it and see the results of your hard work.”

V sighed. Then she moved so that she could see Johnny. The urge to kick him was stronger than ever, but V suppressed the impulse — she tried it already and knew It wouldn't  
bring her any pleasure.

“Good girl. See? You can do it if you want.”

“Are you going to get out now?”

“Hell no. I'm going to stay here and shout fucking warnings until you heed them.”

“Don't waste your time then: I'm not going anywhere.”

“C’mon, why do you need it?” Johnny stared at the ceiling, cigarette smoke was accumulating above his face and slowly melting into the air, and V stuck her gaze on it involuntarily. “You’re doing it for a reason, right? You want to make me mad.”

It sounded so stupid so V burst out laughing in surprise.

“Johnny, I know it's hard to believe, but not everything in this world revolves around you.”

“You’re obviously taking revenge. And don’t say this is not “your thing”: I haven’t forgotten how you mocked me after I returned your body.”

“You fucked up Johnny and you totally deserve it.”

“No way!” Johnny raised his hand and for some reason shook his index finger at the ceiling. “I mean, yes, I fucked up, I won’t argue here. But five hours of the shittiest laser pop in the world and no chance to get drunk? Damn, V, that was fucking cruel.”

“Welcome to Night City, choomba. Anyway, it’s over now. You hurt me, I hurt you, win-win, thank you all, everyone can go now. So fuck off, please, and don't ruin this evening for me.”

V glanced at the door, then lifted her eyes to the right and up, where her optics showed the time.

“It’ll be fucking funny if he doesn't come.”

“Johnny…”

“No, listen. I’ve changed my mind, stay. I want to look at your face when you get it.”

V didn't answer but Johnny didn't seem like noticing it.

“It will be funny, really. This facial expression of yours... No, he certainly won't come. I wouldn't come. I hate it, you know, when girls throw themselves on me.”

“Sure. Yeah. Who told me yesterday that he fucked more fans than any rocker of his time?”

“You don’t understand, that’s...”

“... a completely different thing. Of course. Johnny, listen, if you have nothing to do, go, I don't know... look at my childhood memories. Find some stupid story, one among those that I have already forgotten myself. You will have fun and make fun of me later, ok?”

Johnny sat up on the bed, pushed his glasses off his face, and looked V right in the eyes.

“Damn, girl, you're so deep in the shit. The brain has left the building and asked not to follow it.”

There were footsteps outside the door. Johnny continued to chatter, but V didn’t listen, although it was not easy — this piece of code just loved the sound of his own voice, even if it existed only in her head. The footsteps stopped. V held her breath.

A knock on the door — three loud, clear knocks — and, after a short pause, the fourth one.

“Get the gun.”

V didn't answer but got the gun. She checked the information mechanically — the safety lock was removed, two cartridges were missing to the full magazine. V pointed the gun at the door and opened it. Not wide, just enough to put the muzzle in... and to make sure that there was the person she waited for.

“Goro,” V nodded, took a step back, but did not lower the gun. “You weren't followed, were you?”

“I follow security protocols,” before stepping into the room, he briefly looked around the corridor. “Unlike you. This meeting is a big mistake.”

“Look, Vi, what you've brought me to: I completely agree with this ‘saka bastard.”

“Whatever you say,” she answered to both.

After waiting a couple of minutes, V opened the door again and looked around. Nobody. Unless the lone cockroach slowly crawling along the wall. Everything is clear. Although... who knows: maybe someone had an idea to put a miniature camera in that insect. Sounds crazy, of course, but when you’re going to mess with a mega-corporation, you can expect a catch from any direction.

“V.”

She slammed the door louder than she intended. She clicked the locks, walked — two whole steps — across the room, and sat down on the bed, dangerously close to Johnny's boot. Neither the shoe nor its owner was going to disappear yet. But, it seems, they were silent, and she was thankful for that.

Goro stood by the window. Calm and collected — it seemed that he could wait forever. V once joked about an enemy corpse floating down the river. It was not the best joke indeed. She had seen him like this so many times, but today something was different. Today, Goro looked a lot more like the man whose gaze she was afraid to catch while hiding behind the one-sided glass in the Penthouse of the Konpeki Plaza.

“Glad you're okay,” V said just to say something. She turned the gun in her hands and put it aside. Her head was empty.

It wasn't like she didn't plan this conversation at all. No, she had a plan. A good and very reliable one: wait for Goro... and act according to circumstances.

“Likewise. So why did you need a personal meeting?”

“Here it is, your finest hour” Johnny, of course, could not remain silent. “Want me to suggest an answer?”

“That’s a matter of trust.”

“Of trust?”

“Yup. It seemed suspicious that you were hiding even from me.” Goro was about to say something, but V raised her hand to show that she had not finished. “Yes, “Arasaka” tried to zero us out. So what?”

“I can’t believe I have to explain...”

“Save your breath. I already know what you are going to say: they are looking for you, they are looking for me also, and we better not appear in one place, so if something… happens again, there will be a chance that at least one of us will survive and be able to testify. Am I correct?”

“Yes, you are.”

“I just wanted to see you to...”

“...to fuck you,” Johnny said. “Hey, don’t look at me like that, these are your thoughts, not mine.”

“...to make sure you are still… you but not another engram made by “Arasaka”. If you hadn't come …”

“...you would cut our deal. I remember. You made yourself very clear. I'm not an engram, V. Are you convinced now?”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind touching you, just to be sure.”

V immediately regretted what she had said because Johnny slapped her on the back.

“And then what? Will you ask him to hold hands? I mean all of this is absolutely disgusting, but the worst part is watching you beating around the bush. Damn, V…”

“Shut up,” V said. Probably out loud, otherwise, why would Goro look at her so strangely? “Shut the fuck up.”

She jumped up, thrust her hands into the pockets of her jacket. It didn't just go wrong, everything just becomes... stupid.

Johnny drove her nuts, but that was to be expected. And it's too late to tell herself that she should have been smarter and took the pills. Now what? Now there was only one thing to do: get out of here, to the great delight of Johnny, who pissed her off once again, just at the snap of his fingers.

“Okay” V stepped to the door. She wanted to run off the spot but she had to say something, and words gushed out of her in a continuous stream.

“I got what I wanted. Thanks for coming, and so on. The deal stands. Trust, and all the damn stuff like that. I will leave first, you will wait a few minutes — see? I am following your fucking protocols...”

V fell silent as Goro took her hand. First, from the fact that she even felt it, cause she shouldn't have: she never included feedback from the mantis blades unnecessarily. Secondly... secondly from Goro, who was always shaking over his personal space, it was fucking unexpected. Although it was nice indeed.

“You’re quite a good thief, V,” he said. “But a terrible liar”

V stared at him silently. What was that anyway? Compliment? Insult? It seemed that the bewilderment was quite clear on her face because Goro asked:

“Did you really get what you wanted?”

Oh fuck that, V thought. You’re bitch, Johnny but you’re right again.

She expected Goro to pull away immediately, so she put her hand on the back of his head before kissing him. She strained her arm, preparing for the resistance... but there was none. Goro answered her kiss, and while one of his hands was still gripping her forearm, the other slipped under her jacket.

V was kissing eagerly, as her first girlfriend had once taught her. Nobody has complained — until now. Goro didn't seem to like it too much: sometimes he would stop, pressing his lips together and wait a few seconds before continuing again. As if she was crossing some unseen border, going beyond the line. As if it was him deciding what would happen and how.

When V felt that he was about to do it again, she pulled away first. She leaned back, pulled Goro towards herself with all her strength, and fell back on the bed. And she laughed, looking at how he tries to maintain balance — and falls next to her.

She did not understand why she stopped laughing suddenly. As if something stabbed her between the shoulder blades. A fleeting thought, a feeling that she forgot something important — like the keys in the ignition or a planned visit to the ripper doc…

“I'm going to throw up.”

Johnny bent over her, so low that there was barely an inch between their faces.

“V,” he asked. “Do me a favor — take the fucking pill.”

The idea was sound. V pulled out a vial, which became to weigh much less lately— another reminder of how little time she had left. It usually made her angry or upset, but today she refused to think about it.

“Thanks for nothing,” Johnny said, and finally disappeared.

“V? Are you...”

“I’m alright. I just don't want to, you know...” She waved her hand in the air. “Pass out again. It would be a damn pity.”

Goro shook his head but did not call her a liar this time. It was not a lie after all, just a half-truth.

V got out of her jacket, started to unbutton her shirt, then stopped and pulled it over her head. She closed her eyes when cool fingers touched her skin — she didn't look, but she knew exactly what their way would be — along the lines of tattoos, along the collarbones and neck. When his hand pressed to her face, she could not stand it and just grabbed the realskin of his palm with her teeth — and by his reaction, she got that Goro also turned the feedback from his hands to the full power.

“V.”

Goro waited for V to open her eyes, then forcefully ran his finger over her cheekbone and smiled with that vanishing smile of his. His silvery optics gleamed softly, but the look was serious.

“V,” Goro repeated. “I must ask. Are you... sure you want to continue?”

“Hell yes.”

“Good,” he closed his eyes and nodded curtly. “Very good.”

He touched her lips once more, softly, barely perceptible — and then squeezed his fingers on her chin and sharply turned her face to the side. The system issued a message about reading a shard, the data stream splashed out onto V’s optics, too quickly to be able to see anything other than numerous alarms.

The first, instinctive impulse was to release the blades, and V succumbed to it, not thinking about the consequences, and in the same split second, his fingers closed on her forearms. A sharp flash of anticipation, mixed with bewilderment and anger, pierced her — in a second the metal would give in and the blades would burst outward, cutting her way to freedom. And her faithful “mantis blades”, the fucking miracle of damn ‘saka tech... went back into their grooves.

“V, calm down.”

She didn’t listen, she just howled like a wounded animal, tried to escape. Unsuccessfully. The field of view was obscured by a message: the system initiated a procedure for deactivating combat implants. V ignored it, gave a new command to the blades, then another one bur her implants didn’t respond.

“F-fuck, what did you do to me?!”

“Nothing threatens you, V. Please calm down, I’ll expla...”

“No way!”

She pulled her head back as far as she could, and with all her strength pushed it against the bridge of his nose. He almost managed to dodge, but this was enough for V to free her right arm. She hit, aiming for the throat, but missed, hitting somewhere in the jaw. Won a split second — so fleeting, so precious ones. The smartlink's response passed through the static, just in time to fumble for a gun and press the barrel under Goro's jaw.

He didn't resist at all. V realized this belatedly, looking down at his absolutely calm face. The handle of the pistol was cold in her palm, adrenaline boiled in the blood, demanding action, but... Goro did not resist. He lay pressed into the bed by her weight and looked into her eyes. With no fear.

“You’re beautiful.”

“Da hell?”

“Are you afraid of me?”

V was shaking with anger, it was so easy to shoot — much easier than figuring out all this shit. Just one small, almost imperceptible movement. But it was his calmness, almost submissiveness that made her doubt.

“You have ten seconds. What the fuck is going on?”

“That’s a matter of trust. Are you afraid of me?”

She smashed the gun grip across Goro's face so that his head shook.

“Take that as an answer.”

“Then why are you so mad?”

“Are you insane?! You cut off my combat systems and now asking why I'm angry?!”

“Were you going to use them?”

“What?..”

“Your combat systems.” The first globules of blood swelled in the abrasion on the cheekbone, but Goro's voice sounded like they were walking peacefully through the corporation square, rather than coming to their senses after a short scuffle. “Why would you need them... right now?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Without them, you feel vulnerable. because you are afraid. And my question is if you are afraid of me. Because if that's the case, I'd better leave.”

“I'm afraid…” V felt that she did not have enough air and fell silent. A pitiful sob escaped her chest, and she waited before admitting.

“I'm afraid. I'm afraid the engram will rewrite my personality. I'm afraid your lovely Hanako will fuck me up and throw me in a landfill. I'm afraid I'm going to die — because of time running off ... or because some random asshole decides to throw a bomb party near us. So yeah, I'm fucking afraid.”

“But you're not afraid of me?”

“No, not of you.”

“Good” Goro closed his eyes for a few seconds. “I beg your forgiveness about that. And you should know that I will accept any decisions you make.”

Any decision? As if there could be more than one of them. V almost said it out loud, but then she realized that Goro was right: she could still shoot him, or just leave... or stay. The third option seemed insane but like a very special way of insanity.

“What the hell did you download into me? A virus?”

“Who do you think I am…” Goro stopped, catching her eye. He most certainly didn’t want to hear the answer. “A sparring program. Compatible with all Arasaka implants, it remained... from the old days.”

Too much blood has accumulated in the abrasion from her blow, just one careless movement, and it will flow down the cheek. V touched the scarlet ball with the pad of her finger, then pressed it to Goro's lips. 

She made a decision.

She used to find sex… ordinary. Quite enjoyable. Sometimes cool. Very rarely — cool enough to make her call back. But she did not remember the last time she had it like this so that every centimeter of skin, real or fake, reacted so sharply to the touch; that every kiss made her want to die; which was so good that it was almost unbearable, and she wanted to finish everything immediately, and then repeat.

She didn't know what was the matter. Was it because of the program? Or because of all this fear and trust shit? Or... 

Goro was whispering something in her ear, so unintelligible that the lingual implant couldn't cope, but V didn't need a translation. She understood everything: “you can trust me,” said the hands sliding along the back, “how I trust you”, lips echoed, touching the skin on her inner thighs. And soon, very soon, they had no time for conversations at all.

V had never allowed herself to lose control, but now she gave it up, easily and joyfully, like an unnecessary thing. It was not scary. Unusual, like a game, she didn't know the rules for, but she didn't care as long as they played on the same side.

The metallic taste on her tongue gave V a bit of the consciousness back, and she laughed, realizing where it came from: forgetting herself, she gripped Goro's shoulder with her teeth, right into the interweaving of metal and plastic of his implants. He froze, caught her eye. Instead of answering the unspoken question, V reached for his hair.

“Don’t do it” Goro asked and gently grabbed her hand.

“Please,” the word burst out in a hoarse whisper, V did not feel until now that her throat and lips were very dry. “Please… allow me, Takemura-sama.”

It was a strange look, V would not undertake to say what it means. Goro exhaled sharply and unclenched his fingers. V took it as permission, and after a couple of seconds, his long hair released from the knot slid down her cheek.

“Satisfied?”

“Satisfied,” she raised herself a little to reach for his lips. “Very satisfied”.

V didn't know how long it lasted — minutes, hours, or just one endless moment? She must have passed out from sensory overload at some point, and only regained consciousness when Goro called her by name. It seems, not for the first time.

“I guess, we had enough,” he said, looking into her eyes.

V didn't want to argue. She just wanted to lie, slowly running her fingers along his chest, along the border of metal and living skin, without thinking about the future. But time was still a bitch, and very soon V realized that she could not get rid of one thought.

“You know, it's even funny,” she said, holding a strand of her hair between her fingers. “That you are afraid of me.”

“Am I?”

“You turned my implants off, didn’t you?” she raised her head sharply. “Give me back access! Now!”

“You have it already,” Goro sighed. “That look again. You don’t believe me. The program is designed for twenty minutes. They are long passed, V.”

A quick diagnosis showed that he wasn’t lying.

“Although you're right,” Goro continued. “I am also afraid. I am afraid that if I have to choose between my duty and you, then I won’t be able to... do the right thing.”

V was smart enough not to ask what he meant. Instead, she sat up, wrapped her arms around her knees, and stared at him.

“I… I have an important business to do, I don’t know when we will see each other again, but the room is paid until morning, and…”

“We've been here for too long. Every extra minute puts both of us in danger…”

“I know, but…”

Goro reached out and placed his fingers on her lips, urging her to be silent.

“Look,” he smiled softly. “I didn't say that I wouldn't stay.”


End file.
